Columbus High Asset Dissolution Attorneys
People who are facing divorce with significant assets and wealth often want as much privacy as possible surrounding their divorce. While divorce filings are a matter of public record, separation agreements and dissolutions are not. Through marriage dissolution, the family can maintain confidentiality and avoid the public nature of divorce. In doing so, the risk of financial predators, jeopardized child safety and other risks are dramatically reduced. Marriage dissolution can also promote the parties of the divorce to effectively move on with their lives.
At Edward F. Whipps & Associates, in Dublin and Columbus, our high asset dissolution lawyers have helped clients dissolve their marriage in a manner that keeps them in control, while maintaining privacy and minimizing expenses.
Columbus and Dublin, Ohio, Business Valuation Lawyers — Handling All Legal Aspects of High Asset Dissolutions
In dissolution of marriage, both spouses must agree to all major issues related to the end of the marriage. However, many spouses come to our firm seeking divorce, and through our effective coaching and negotiation skills, are capable of seeking dissolution instead. We work closely with clients to negotiate and draft separation agreements tailored to their unique situations, enabling them to bring the separation agreement to the court, as part of their dissolution petition.
When negotiating a separation agreement for couples with high assets, income or wealth, it is important to take many factors into consideration:
- Business property: One or both spouses may have business interests or a professional practice that should be taken into consideration. Careful business valuations are critical, whether business interests will be offset with other property, or another separation tactic is sought.
- Taxation of child and spousal support: Evaluation of the tax implications of child support and spousal support can make a considerable difference in the cost-benefit to both parties. While child support is not tax deductible to the payer or taxable income to the payee, spousal support is tax deductible to the payer and is considered taxable income to the payee. Effectively negotiating higher spousal support in exchange for lower child support income may enable both parties to benefit financially by reducing the total taxes paid by both.
- Spousal support: Many times, in families with a significant amount of wealth, one spouse is the primary breadwinner, while the other spouse primarily brings homemaking to the marriage. Identifying a fair amount of spousal support — that maintains the marital standard of living and enables the spouse to obtain proper vocational retraining to re-enter the workforce — can be even more critical in these situations.
- Separate property: In Ohio, property owned before the marriage or inherited by or gifted exclusively to one party is their separate property and generally remains theirs. It is important to determine what property is separate verses marital property. This can be particularly difficult when an asset may be considered partially marital and partially separate property, such as retirement accounts that were earned partially before the marriage and partially during the marriage. Careful tracing of the separate property is essential.
Strong working relationships with vocational experts, forensic accountants, appraisers and other experts give our firm an edge in handling complex property and asset issues in high asset dissolutions.
Contact Our Dissolution, Divorce and Property Division Lawyers
For personal, sensitive and caring attention through your high asset dissolution, turn to Edward F. Whipps & Associates for personal attention from a lawyer experienced in family, matrimonial and domestic relations law. Contact our law firm by calling our Columbus law office at 614-461-6006 or our Dublin law office at 614-461-6007 to schedule an in-depth consultation.